In less than a few days the first pre-orders of LEAP Motion will be hitting the general public. My 'special' status will end. That's OK though because it will hopefully mean that more enthusiastic educators will be testing it out and coming up with fantastic ideas!

LEAP recently opened up the Airspace App store for developers to try out and give feedback on. Part of the deal was that all apps were made free for developers to try out. As you can expect, I went all out and downloaded everything I could to test out with my students at Jackson School and examine what games could have educational or experiential benefits for them.
So what are the results so far? What did the kids think of the games currently available?
Read on.

The main games we tested out were:
- Midnight
- Boom Ball
- Vitrun
- Sugar Rush
- Airbeats
- Caterpillar Count
- Clay Jam
- Fingertapps Piano
- Octorhythm
- Dropchord
- Wooden Sensei
- Chordion Conductor
- Sortee

I had downloaded other games but these were the ones I had selected based upon their ease of accessibility and quality of control response. If there are any developers reading this who don't see their game on here, I would be happy to provide you with some feedback on how your app can be improved in regards to kids and education.
As a general note, I would like to provide some simple feedback for developers out there, particularly those who create or plan to create apps for kids.

• Be mindful of kid's limited or basic fine-motor control. Many kids, particularly in special education settings, find it hard to continue holding a pointed index finger with a tightly closed fist.
• Children's fingers are shorter than adults and that creates a problem with tracking in certain apps because the distance from the tip of a finger to the knuckle is not proportional. This means that the LEAP controller can often struggle with tracking their finger and consequently, mis-track.
  
• Consider integrating peripheral devices as part of the gaming experience. I found that a pen was a good way to overcome the issue of kids being able to close their hand for long periods of time and it was particularly fun for games like Airbeats
• Make the menus simple and quick, and have buttons towards the centre of the screen. Kids are eager and excitable but as soon as it becomes a tedious task to start the game or select a button to move to the next level, they become frustrated and disengaged. Also, menus where hovering your hand over a button to select it is generally more responsive than using a gesture to select.
  
• Make the progression of difficulty steady. Some games get too fast or too hard way too early on e.g. Hungry Monster. The concept can be great and exciting but a balance of difficulty is important.  
  

Here's a mixture of mine and my students' impressions/experiences with the following apps.

Midnight
This app struck my curiosity as soon as I found out that it was in existence. It is a visually impressive app that calms and intrigues the senses in a very positive way. The absence of menus make it highly accessible for all types of users and the adaptive experience coupled with peaceful piano music makes it a wonderfully relaxing app. Many of my students commented about how they felt 'relaxed' whilst playing it and it 85% of classes that I tested it with responded positively as a whole class.

Boom Ball
This is definitely a favourite. It's engaging, easy to get used to, tracks accurately, and has a great progression of difficulty. My students found it easy to work with the menus in the game and it was one where the whole class demonstrated a team approach to playing.

Vitrun
This is possibly the general favourite for my students of all age groups. Much like Boom Ball, the menus are simple and are generally easy to work with (buttons in lower corners can be tricky) and it's an easy game to have a sense of achievement with. Every class responded well to this one and it's definitely a good app for getting kids familiar with using the LEAP. The fact that it doesn't require kids to point their finger also helps.

Sugar Rush
This one already held a fair bit of sway with students simply because it's a popular part of the movie, Wreck-it Ralph. Visually, this is quite a stunning game and kids were immediately drawn to it. The controls can be a bit hit and miss. Some students found it easy to keep their hands in the right configuration and others got a bit too expressive and consequently struggled to control their vehicle, which led to some frustrated gamers. There's little to no educational value here.

Airbeats
A wonderful concept that could benefit greatly from improved control response and calibration. Younger students found Airbeats to be quite engaging and fun to experience. Making noise is generally a great time for young kids. That said, it's a very difficult app to produce any real consistent beats with due to how the controls are tracked. I ended up giving my students the option to use two pens for this game as part of a 'real drumming experience'. 

Caterpillar Count
This is a simple game with a reasonable control system and simple goal. This is clearly aimed at younger kids and mine definitely enjoyed it. The current build can be a little buggy on start up but other than that it's a sound app.

Clay Jam
I love the visuals of this game. Clay Jam's menus are relatively simple to work with and the game is a lot of fun. I can see there is quite a lot of gameplay time in this one and my students were keen to explore it further. The learning curve is reasonably fair and most kids found it easy to understand.

Fingertapps Piano
This is a rather simple app but it definitely tracks well and doesn't boast about being anything much more than a piano with a few songs. I didn't test this at great lengths with my students but they certainly enjoyed making a bit of noise.

Octorhythm
We've had this game for a good month or two at Jackson School and it's been well responded to by our students. I love the hand-eye coordination that's involved in this game and the cool electronic music that plays with it. My early teens students were much more keen on this than younger ones. Again, good progression of difficulty and consistent gameplay that's responsive.

Dropchord
Hands-down the most stunning game available on the LEAP currently. This has incredible visuals and the music is just awesome! I loved letting the kids loose on this one. The onscreen tracking of fingers is really helpful for kids like mine and it's not hard to gain a sense of achievement from. Great game!

Wooden Sensei
This one may be a bit dodgy with regard to control responsiveness but it's a lot of fun. This was a clear favourite for many young male students as it's one of the few games that have explosive action like many of their favourite Nintendo or PS3 games. Obviously there's no real educational value to this one.

Chordion Conductor
This iOS version of this app has already been a bit of a favourite with some of my students so naturally I wanted to see what it was like on the LEAP. It's responsive, engaging, wonderfully creative and visually simple yet fresh. The absence of menus in order to play the game is terrific and students of all ages and abilities were able to get in and enjoy this game.

Sortee
I've tested this one quite extensively with my students and given the wonderful people at FlowStudios some feedback on how the game could be improved. This is definitely a top 5 app for the LEAP. It's educational, fun, easy to control, has a good difficulty progression and is very appropriate for students with disabilities. I will provide more feedback on this one in future. Get it!

I still have a lot of video footage to upload of my students playing different apps on the LEAP. The wonderful thing is that kids are brutally honest and some of their responses are just hilarious.
Until next time.

Send me a line if you've any questions or queries.
@iMathieu85

The Xbox Kinect is one of the most under-rated pieces of technology out there, in my opinion. I've enjoyed playing video games for decades now and even when the Kinect first came out I could still appreciate the Kinect for what it is, particularly when you consider the price. Many hard-core gamers have brushed it off as being a joke of a device, which, based on some very poorly made games, is justifiable. In all honesty, my Xbox Kinect was something that was used sparingly at home but was heavily utilized when there were festivities to be had with other adult friends,
then along came an educational opportunity.  

During the middle of 2012 I decided to bring my own Xbox and Kinect unit into Jackson School to see how it could be used with our students. This was partly motivated by the fact that during rainy days (there's plenty of them in Melbourne), students don't get to go outside and play, thus leaving many with built up energy levels and one of their essential daily needs not being met. Initial results were very positive and students thoroughly enjoyed playing games like Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, Dance Central and a few others with their peers. It was a positive experience that enabled modeling of correct social behaviours (taking turns, patience, sharing, socialising etc.), practice of gross-motor skills and of course, exercising the body and mind. 

After a week or two of playing some different games I took my Xbox home to do a system update and install Fruit Ninja, at the request of my students. Whilst downloading the updates and extra games I stumbled across Happy Action Theater (HAT), made by the wonderful team at DoubleFine. I was sold on the game based solely on the gallery pictures and was jumping around like a child when I first got into playing it.

I still vividly remember turning the game on at the start of each of my IT classes during the first week I introduced HAT to students at Jackson School and watching curiosity take over. Students of all ages were instantly intrigued and full of excitement to test each new game within HAT. The standout examples were when students who weren't typically very sociable suddenly became far more active and ready to be involved with their peers. Check out a video from the early days of testing Happy Action Theater here.  

After seeing the success of one Kinect unit I decided to test the implications of HAT in a class of students who all have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). My colleague, Emily Ford, was the teacher for the class whose enthusiasm for teaching kids with ASD is passionate to say the least. It took all but one session with the Kinect and HAT in Emily's class and we were pleading with her department leader to purchase an XBOX and Kinect for her classroom. Needless to say, we were very persuasive.

I was so impressed and thankful for HAT and what it was doing for our students that I decided to send the team at DoubleFine a thank you email. Below is part of Drew Skillman's response and what lead to some very interesting developments. 

"We set out to make a fun, silly game that anyone can enjoy, and the fact that it's actually helping young people like your students is totally unexpected, and totally inspiring." - Drew Skillman.

After offering some feedback on the game and its uses at Jackson School to the team at DoubleFine, two wonderful opportunities arose that allowed for Emily and I to get chatting with Jeffrey Matulef at Eurogamer and Ben Kuchera at Penny Arcade. The links below tell our story.

Happy Action Theater used in school for special needs students
Using Kinect and Happy Action Theater as therapy: how one school is reaching autistic children

“It’s simple, and it’s very positive. There are no menus, you go straight in, and they’re incredibly imaginative and expressive. And that’s what we want from our kids, to be talking and creating in their minds,” Marunczyn told the Penny Arcade Report. 

Ford said. “What I’ve found is that it bridges the gap between the kids. It’s not as confrontational as face-to-face interaction. It’s a scaffolded way to communicate with others. While they’re playing the game they’ll be talking to each other, and some of the highest needs kids will simply throw balloons at another student or shooting them with the fire game. They’re able to interact in a safe, predictable environment.”

I am extremely grateful for the support that the team at DoubleFine have shown us and the release of Kinect Party has been a wonderful expansion on an already exceptional game and learning tool. The numerous new games and use of augmented reality is inspirational and the addition of voice commands whilst keeping the menus and games functionality simple is an exceptional example that other developers need to follow. 
You can read more about how Kinect Party is being used at Jackson School here on Emily Ford's blog. We've been using the game since its initial release back in December and even after 6 months of using it with students at Jackson School they're still just as engaged and enthused! 

As a final note, I realise that there's a fair bit of negative press going around about the XBOX One and its 'always on' approach. Forget that! Look at the new Kinect! This thing is going to revolutionize interactive gameplay and I cannot wait to get it into my classroom at Jackson School. I am quite envious of the guys at IGN who got to play with the new Kinect.

The picture below represents my Sunday. I can't wait to get these units loaded up with Kinect Party and into some new classrooms.